White-Collar Roles Are in Decline
Corporate adoption of AI has surged — 88% of organisations are now using AI in at least one business function, triggering a fundamental restructuring of white-collar work. Human labour in cognitive roles is being systematically revalued as automation accelerates.
0.5%
Workforce Redundant
Unemployment rising at fastest rate since 2012
5.2%
Unemployment Rate
Highest level since 2012 as restructuring accelerates
59%
Increase in Graduate Competition
140 applicants per graduate role as corporate teams shrink
40%
Decrease in Mid-Level Jobs
Corporate role consolidation eliminating middle management
Human labour in white-collar sectors is being systematically revalued.
The window for proactive career transition is now.
The window for proactive career transition is now.
Skilled Trades Are in Structural Demand
While cognitive roles compress under AI, skilled manual work expands. The existing workforce is already struggling to meet current demand — and infrastructure growth in housing, energy, data centres, and electrification is accelerating future need dramatically.
1.3M
New Workers Needed
New skilled workers required in the trades sector over the next decade
61%
Companies Affected
Of construction firms report that labour shortages are actively impacting business
1/3
Ageing Workforce
Of all tradespeople are over 50 or approaching retirement — exits will outpace new entrants
Demand > Supply.
A compounding skills gap is creating a generational opportunity for those willing to make the switch.
A compounding skills gap is creating a generational opportunity for those willing to make the switch.
Outdated Career Transition Paths
The transition pathway is broken. Existing training programmes were designed for school leavers — they take 1–3 years to complete and fail to provide a clear, fast path to earned income. Career-changers are being forced into systems that were never built for them.
What's Missing
Speed to Income
Traditional routes take years before a learner can start earning
Market Readiness
Graduates lack the practical, client-facing skills employers demand on day one
Modern Delivery
Classroom-only formats ignore digital tools, simulation, and flexible scheduling
The Renzo Learning Model
Digital Learning
Structured online modules designed for adult learners
Structured online modules designed for adult learners
Hands-On Training
Supervised practical guidance in real-world settings
Supervised practical guidance in real-world settings
Simulation
Immersive Practice environments to build real skills and confidence
Immersive Practice environments to build real skills and confidence
AI & Business Skills
Equipping learners with technical and commercial literacy for modern trades market
Equipping learners with technical and commercial literacy for modern trades market
Outcome focused training through compression and precision.
A New Model for Career Transition
From displacement to income in months, not years.
renzo is the only programme built specifically for career-changers who cannot afford to wait.
renzo is the only programme built specifically for career-changers who cannot afford to wait.
Early Validation
Early Market Demand Already Visible
We are already seeing strong early signals from the market
- London — Prospective learners have expressed interest in joining Painting, Decorating & Plastering courses.
- East of England — Professionals who have exited finance are actively exploring retraining pathways into Electrical careers.
- Corporate Demand — Companies are approaching us to create tailored programmes to help solve skills shortages within their trades.
- Live Event — We hosted a panel of working Painters & Decorators in London (see video below), attended by professionals considering a career change into the trades — many of whom remain in close contact as potential early users.
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The Right Team
We have built, scaled, and funded technology platforms before. Now applying that experience to a structural labour market shift. The renzo founding team combines product expertise, deep technology capability, and a proven track record of raising capital and delivering exits.
Edmund Kendall
Co-Founder & CEO
Proven operator specialising in scalable digital learning platforms. Built Terra Academy into an enterprise e-learning product. Former Head of Customer Success at AI platform OBRIZUM.
eLearning
SaaS
Revenue Systems
Henning Kosmack
Co-Founder
Entrepreneur and technologist with deep experience in AI, gaming, and EdTech. Co-founded an EdTech initiative reaching 10,000+ students and founded BlazeByte, specialising in AI development and analytics.
MARKET EXPANSION
Platform Engineering
EdTech
Raf Keustermans
Co-Founder
Entrepreneur with multiple exits and $35M+ raised. Former CEO of Plumbee (acquired by Sony's GSN Games). Experienced in scaling global technology businesses from seed to exit.
Fundraising
GTM
AI DEVELOPMENT
Zachary Thurston
Co-Founder
Business development specialist with expertise spanning Finance, Leadership, Digital Fabrication, and Software Development. Focused on transforming innovative ideas into tangible results — bringing technical fluency across Python, Swift, HTML, and data tools to Renzo's growth strategy.
AI
Finance
Software Development
Ideal Customer Profile
Phase 1
Proof of Concept
Proof of Concept
The initial target users are white-collar professionals aged 28–45 who have been displaced, made redundant, or have reached a mid-career plateau. Seed funding will be used to prove that this market actively exists and is willing to pay for a faster, better transition pathway.
Phase 2
Scale
Scale
Post Series A, the target audience widens to include graduates and junior professionals entering the workforce. This sequenced approach allows renzo's tech platform to be stress-tested with more self-directed learners before onboarding less experienced cohorts at scale.
Professionals seeking a fast route to a new income— that's the renzo learner.
Total Addressable Market
The displacement of white-collar workers by AI is a global, structural trend — not a temporary cycle. renzo is positioned to serve a multi-hundred-million-person addressable market, with a clear, focused entry point in the UK before scaling internationally.
The market narrows from the broad global opportunity to the most immediate early adopters:
1
2
3
1
Total Addressable Market 🇬🇧 £32B | 🌍 £3.2T
White-collar professionals exposed to automation. 40% facing AI disruption. 🇬🇧 8M | 🌍 800M potentially need retraining
2
Serviceable Available Market 🇬🇧 £8B | 🌍 £800B
Professionals aged 28–45 at mid-career plateau or redundancy.
🇬🇧 2M | 🌍 200M potential retraining candidates
3
Serviceable Obtainable Market 🇬🇧 £800M | 🌍 £80B
Early adopters actively willing to transition into skilled trades (conservative 10% conversion).
🇬🇧 200K | 🌍 20M
Revenue Model
RENZO will operate a hybrid revenue model designed to maximise accessibility while aligning incentives around successful workforce outcomes.
Upfront Course Fee
Learners pay an upfront fee for access to RENZO's accelerated training pathways, digital learning systems and practical training programmes.
Earnings-Based Commission
RENZO receives a percentage of learner earnings over a defined period once the learner successfully transitions into employment within the skilled trades.
Hybrid Model
A blended structure combining a reduced upfront fee with an earnings-linked repayment model.
Why This Matters?
We believe access to workforce transition should not be limited by a learner's immediate financial position.
Many adults looking to retrain are navigating redundancy, career instability or major life transitions. Traditional education models often create financial barriers at exactly the moment career mobility is most needed.
Pilot Programme
To demonstrate real market demand and validate the Renzo learning model, we are launching two focused pilot programmes in Painting & Decorating, and Scaffolding.
August 2026
2 week programme
2 week programme
🖌️ Painting & Decorating
✅ Learner Demand
✅ Industry Partner
✅ Training Location
September 2026
2 week programme
2 week programme
🏗️ Scaffolding
✅ Learner Demand
✅ Industry Partner
✅ Training Location
Success Criteria
1
⚡ Speed to New Income
2
💰 Income Uplift
3
⭐ Employer Feedback
Scaling Renzo.
This seed round validates the model ahead of a Series A raise to scale across trades and geographies. The three revenue channels — Direct-to-Consumer, B2B, and Government — allow Renzo to grow revenue while diversifying risk. Below is how renzo could grow in the three years following Series A.
As renzo matures, average course pricing increases as learners move into higher-value technical trades — improving both unit economics and overall margin as the platform scales.
The Power Law Outcome
What if everything goes right?
The Setup
AI accelerates white-collar displacement globally. Millions of professionals need rapid reskilling. Skilled labour shortages continue to expand. Governments and corporations prioritise workforce transition.
The Shift
Traditional training pathways fail to scale. A new model becomes required: faster, scalable, outcome-driven. renzo proves the model early and builds the platform.
The Breakout
Individuals adopt at scale. Corporates embed renzo into redundancy programmes. Governments deploy renzo across national reskilling initiatives.
The Outcome
renzo becomes the default infrastructure for career transition — operating across trades, industries, and geographies. Millions of learners trained globally.
A multi-billion revenue platform in one of the largest labour shifts in history.
If renzo wins, it defines the category.
Investment Opportunity
renzo is raising £250,000 under the SEIS scheme in exchange for 15% equity at a pre-money valuation of £1.67M.
SEIS provides investors with significant tax relief — up to 50% income tax relief on investments, plus capital gains exemptions.
Use of Funds
01
✅ Build MVP
LMS, VR/AR modules, and digital infrastructure
02
✅ Establish Market Traction
Speak with customers in the market and existing training providers
03
Launch Pilot Programme
First paid cohort: Painting & Decorating, August 2026
04
Validate the Model
Prove demand, completion rates, and income outcomes
05
Prepare for Series A
Build the commercial and operational case for scale
6-Month Milestones
Within 6 months of seed funding, renzo will demonstrate:
- Proven training methodology in multiple live cohort setting
- Multiple fully paid cohorts completed
- Early graduate income outcomes documented
- Feedback from employers and customers.
- Validated framework for expansion nationally, internationally, and across additional trades
Seed success unlocks a multi-million pound Series A — and a rapidly scalable business.
To learn more about the investment opportunity or schedule a meeting, please contact ed@renzo-skills.com or call +447919407388.
Appendix
The following slides provide supplementary detail for investors, partners, and stakeholders who want to go deeper on the renzo model, team, and market opportunity.
- Allocation of Capital — Detailed breakdown of how seed funds will be deployed across technology, learning materials, marketing, and operations
- Roadmap to Proof of Concept & Series A — Month-by-month execution plan from April through December 2026
- Measuring Success — Key metrics across learning competency, learner experience, market validation, economic outcomes, and investor KPIs
- Meet the Founding Team — Full founder biographies and track records
- Media — Press coverage tracking the AI displacement and skilled trades demand narrative
Allocation of Capital
The £250,000 seed raise will be deployed strategically over the next 6 months to build the platform, create learning content, run the pilot, and prepare for Series A. Every pound is allocated with a clear purpose — and a £50K runway buffer ensures the team can execute the Series A fundraise from a position of strength.
2026 Roadmap to Proof of Concept & Series A
Renzo has a clear, month-by-month execution plan from capital raise through to Series A launch. Every milestone is sequenced to build evidence — from platform build to first paid cohort to measurable graduate income outcomes.
1
May
Establish credible industry partners and build demo/MVP product.
Pilot cohort recruitment begins.
Pilot cohort recruitment begins.
2
June
Begin investor dialogue to raised seed capital.
Course creation begins in earnest for pilot programme.
Course creation begins in earnest for pilot programme.
3
July
Testing and refinement of first course.
4
August
First series of pilot programmes begin.
5
September
Pilots continue and second trade launches.
Customer success process begins.
Customer success process begins.
6
October–December
Series A fundraise launches.
More training cohorts begin.
Expand into additional trades and scale the business.
More training cohorts begin.
Expand into additional trades and scale the business.
Measuring Success
renzo tracks performance across five interconnected pillars — ensuring we demonstrate value to learners, employers, and investors simultaneously. These metrics create a virtuous feedback loop: better learning outcomes drive better economic results, which validate the model for scale.
Learning Competency
- Time to competency
- Assessment pass rates
- Practical skill evaluation scores
Learner Experience
- Programme completion rate
- Graduate satisfaction score
- Qualitative feedback
Market Validation
- Customer satisfaction with graduates
- Repeat and referral rate
- Time to learner break-even
Economic Outcomes
- Time to first income post-graduation
- Average earnings at 3–12 months
- Income uplift vs. previous role
Investor Metrics
- Cost per trained graduate
- Graduate retention rate
- Revenue per cohort
Meet the Founding Team
Three founders. Deep complementary expertise across product, technology, fundraising, and scaling. We have built, funded, and exited technology platforms before — and we are now applying that experience to one of the most significant structural labour market shifts of our generation.
Edmund Kendall
Co-Founder & CEO
Strategic operator specialising in scalable digital learning and SaaS. Conceived and built Terra Academy into a revenue-generating enterprise e-learning product. Former Head of Customer Success at AI learning platform OBRIZUM. Previously founded OTF, raising £250K under SEIS/EIS for a dynamic pricing SaaS platform.
Henning Kosmack
Co-Founder & Director
Serial entrepreneur and technology executive with deep experience in gaming and AI. Co-founder of an EdTech initiative reaching 10,000+ students. Founder of BlazeByte, specialising in AI, data, and analytics. Formerly in Corporate Development at Siemens and Nokia, and a long-standing angel investor.
Raf Keustermans
Co-Founder & Director
Experienced founder and operator with a track record of building and scaling technology startups. Former CEO of Plumbee (acquired by Sony's GSN Games / Scopely) and Sportlight, a LiDAR & AI company serving professional sports. Has raised $35M+ from private, strategic, and VC investors. Former executive at Electronic Arts and Kindred Group.
In the Media
The AI displacement narrative has gone mainstream — and the skilled trades are the story everyone is telling. From the BBC to Bloomberg, Fortune to the Guardian, the New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and the Wall Street Journal, major publications are independently arriving at the same conclusion: the trade is the new safe harbour in the age of AI. Renzo is built for exactly this moment. The media list now runs from February 2026 through May 2026, spanning 109+ articles.
In the Media (continued)
In the Media (continued)
In the Media (continued)
In the Media (continued)
This list updates daily. The volume and consistency of coverage across global publications reflects a structural narrative shift — not a news cycle.